Grace Primary School

Growing in Creativity Together🎨

Last evening’s Parents’ Inspirational Evening was a wonderfully creative time together! Our theme was, “Growing in Creativity Together,” and Judy McComb (our Philosophy Director) invited us to explore how Charlotte Mason’s educational philosophy can shape not only life at school, but everyday family life at home.

Creativity is central to a Charlotte Mason education. It reflects the child as a person made in the image of God, the Creator, and encourages children to develop rich relationships with the world around them - the “Science of Relations.”

Mrs Versfeld, our Art teacher at Grace, encouraged parents to create simple, purposeful opportunities for creativity in everyday life - not to keep children busy or produce 'Instagram-worthy' creations, but to cultivate curiosity, wonder, attentiveness and connection.

Parents then enjoyed practical creative activities with simple, affordable ideas to try at home. Mrs Jack introduced her Bonding Box, featuring OT-approved activities using everyday objects such as playdough, marbles, stones, string and chalk. She emphasised that the activities were meant for doing WITH their children and not just for the children to occupy themselves! Mrs Versfeld led parents through a simple art activity, demonstrating an accessible way families can enjoy artistic expression together.

All in all, it was a stimulating and inspiring evening for parents and teachers alike, leaving us with fresh ideas and a renewed appreciation for the role creativity can play in helping families connect and flourish together.

And what better way to prepare for our upcoming Screen-Free Week in September?!

Each term our classes go on excursions to extend and add to what they are learning back in their classrooms.

Recently our grade 4s had a wonderful morning at the South African Astronomical Observatory, where they learnt more about our solar system. They had the opportunity to build and construct binoculars and a telescope during their time there. They also got to view the sun through eclipse-protective glasses, where they could observe the 'orange ball' in the sky. Enjoy some of the feedback from our Grade 4s:

Gabriella: I learnt about the solar system and how the planets orbit the sun. I really enjoyed building the telescope and the binoculars.

Tim: I learnt about the South African large Telescope (SALT) telescope. It is the largest telescope in the Southern Hemisphere.

Lelothando: I learnt about the planets and that almost all of them where named from the Roman gods.

Jean O'Kennedy: I liked sharing the fun facts about the planets. I learnt that there is a storm raging on Mars that has gone on for 100 years.

Lisa Van Wyk: I enjoyed learning about the planets, but also being able to see the sun through the Eclipse glasses.

Last term our Grade 1s discovered more about the ocean and the various creatures that inhabit it. A visit to the Two Oceans Aquarium earlier this week brought their learning to life and enabled them to make even more discoveries about the incredible plant and animal life that can be found in the sea. Here is some feedback from our grade 1s:

Shelby : The neon anemones were my best.
Noah: My favourite was the penguins and the sea urchins.
Shiloh: I liked the penguins diving in the water and the big tank with the tiny sharks.
Iyla: I loved sitting watching the fish in the kelp forest.
Xihluke: I liked touching the slimy kelp
Aphiwe : I liked the sharks lesson and seeing the kelp forest.
Sipho : My favourite part was seeing the sharks up close .

At assembly on Friday, we had a special focus on Women’s Day.

Mrs Johns, our Grade 5 teacher, reminded us of the historical significance of this day. On 9th August 1956, approximately 20 000 courageous women marched to the Union Buildings in Pretoria to protest against the apartheid government’s pass laws, which required Black women to carry passbooks, as well as the broader inequalities and injustices faced by women.

In celebrating courageous women, Mrs Johns also shared stories of other women throughout history who have made significant contributions to society. She read us a fascinating story about the life of Beatrice Shilling, a British electrical engineer who developed an ingenious adjustment to the Spitfire fighter planes used by the British Royal Air Force during World War II. Her invention helped prevent the aircraft engines from cutting out during steep dives, making the Spitfire a more effective fighter and contributing to the British war effort.

As we remembered the courage of the thousands of women who marched on this day in 1956, Mrs Johns encouraged our children to think about other significant women — perhaps even the courageous and inspiring women in their own families.

Our extra-mural activities and sports fixtures have been in full-swing again this week. There have been a number of sports matches with a mixture of wins, draws and losses. Our u9 and u11 soccer teams, looking very smart in their new kit, played against The Grove School and our u13 team played against Bergvliet. Well done to our goal scorers William, Griffin, Malachi, Mandisi, Zingce, David, Eli, Josh and Azi. Our netball teams played matches against Thornton Primary and our netball u9s are looking forward to participating in a mini tournament taking place tomorrow.

On Thursday evening, the Grace Primary Senior Choir had the privilege of participating in the Pinelands Combined Schools Choir Festival, coordinated by The Pinelands Primary School as part of its centenary celebrations.

The audience was treated to a wonderful evening of choral and instrumental performances at the beautiful Hugo Lamprechts Auditorium in Parow. Schools from across Pinelands participated, including Pinelands Primary, Pinehurst Primary School, Pinelands North Primary School, Cannons Creek Independent School, Pinelands High School and of course Grace Primary.

We were incredibly proud of our Senior Choir, who performed two pieces to a high standard before a packed auditorium. The evening concluded with all the participating choirs joining together to perform a joyful medley of popular songs spanning the past 100 years.

Thank you very much to Mrs Haw for preparing our Senior Choir for this special occasion. We would also like to extend our thanks to the Music Department of The Pinelands Primary School for their initiative and organisation. It was a wonderful opportunity for the Pinelands school community to celebrate this significant milestone together.

This morning, our two coding teams achieved outstanding results at the Pinelands Library Coding Tournament, competing against 22 other teams from three local schools.

We are thrilled to share that our teams placed 1st and 3rd - an incredible achievement!

Congratulations to our talented young coders on their hard work and success. A special thank you to Lauren, their coding teacher, who only began working with them earlier this year, and also to Pinelands Library for organising a fantastic event!

Our Grade 7s enjoyed a fun week-end away, hosted on the O’Kennedy's family farm to pick oranges for their fundraiser. Thank you to Phia O’Kennedy for organizing this opportunity and to the other parents that accompanied the children - and well done Grade 7s on your hard work! They really did work hard picking about 900 oranges in the heat, yet despite this their spirits remained high and there was much singing and great gees! When they weren't picking oranges they were able to explore and enjoyed the beautiful farm!

Thank you also to all those who supported this fundraiser by purchasing a hamper.

To mark Mandela Day this year, we used the opportunity to once again connect with Trinity Children's Centre based in Mitchell's Plain. Grace families participated in a collection of food items for two feeding schemes that both Trinity Children's Centre (TCC) and Trinity Church are involved with. Last year, our Grade 6 and 7 children visited TCC and this year, it was lovely to have the Trinity grade 7s visit Grace. The children took part in some fun activities in the hall, shared stories about their respective schools over a snack and then we went off to together enjoy an excellent performance of the opera, The Cunning Little Vixen, performed at The Joseph Stone theatre. We are enjoying being able to connect with TCC and foster a meaningful relationship with both the children and staff at this school. A big thank you to all our school families for giving generously towards the food collection.

As part of our preparation for the term ahead, yesterday our teachers gathered for a morning of staff development and fellowship. We began with a devotional time, reflecting together on some key principles of Charlotte Mason's educational philosophy before heading to the 1975 The Pop-Up Coffee Shop for a unique sensory cake-tasting workshop led by occupational therapist Alison Hallett.

Within the beautiful and welcoming atmosphere of Ali's home, we explored the sensory nature of human beings and considered some of the sensory overload that characterises modern life. As we reflected, we were treated to five exquisitely presented servings of cake, each thoughtfully designed to engage one of our primary senses—sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell. This was both a wonderful treat and a thought-provoking time as we thought about how we can be more aware of the sensory sensitivities of children in our classrooms. Altogether, it was a morning of nourishment for heart, mind, and body, and a fitting way to prepare for the term ahead.